Countdown to Earth Day - part 4 of 8

"I've got the world in my window."

This quote comes from the other Apollo 11 astronaut, Michael Collins. Mike is the one that stayed in orbit while Neil and Buzz went down to the surface. This quote is not terribly profound, he was just talking to mission control about what he could see out the window. The full quote is "I've got the world in my window for a change and looking at it through the monocular, it's really something. I wish I could describe it properly, but the weather is very good. South America is coming around into view. I can see on the - what appears to me to be upper horizon, a point that must be just about Seattle, Washington, and then from there I can see all the way down to the southern tip - Tierra del Fuego and the southern tip of the continent." (Mission control responds - Roger. Sounds like you've got a beautiful view up there.) "Absolutely fantastic. I hope the pictures come out; we're rotating around where it's going out of view again."

I guess I just really liked the idea that the whole world could fit into that tiny little window.

Countdown to Earth Day part 1 part 2 part 3

Countdown to Earth Day - part 3 of 8

Today's quote comes from Apollo 17 astronaut and the one and only geologist to walk on the Moon, Jack Schmitt.

"Eh! You seen one Earth, you've seen them all."

A little context for this one...
The Apollo 17 crew had arrived at the Moon and had just finished their first major task, getting the rover assembled, when Gene Cernan was distracted by the view of the Earth in the distance. He called to his partner, "Hey Jack, just stop. You owe yourself thirty seconds to look up over the South Massif at the Earth." "What? The Earth?" Jack replied. "Just look up there," Gene insisted, and this quote was Jack's reply as he went about his business doing some soil observations (I took a little artistic license by putting a rock in his hands, which made a better visual counterpoint to the Moon then him staring at the ground).

Gene notes in his book Last Man on the Moon that in that moment he was "almost disgusted with the blasé reaction" but I totally get it. They were already seven precious minutes behind schedule and with such limited time and an entire planet to explore, even 30 seconds wasted would mean one less sample collected or one less observation made. Besides that, Jack had spent most of the 3-day trip to the Moon looking back at the Earth working on a meteorology study, he had seen plenty of the Earth, this was his moment to see the Moon.

Upon his return to Earth Jack was quite amused to find that this quote had actually been picked up and co-opted by the environmental movement and could be found on a wide array of t-shirts and bumper stickers.

Countdown to Earth Day part 1 part 2

Countdown to Earth Day - part 1 of 8

So Earth day is approaching and I have been thinking a lot lately about a quote from Socrates:

"Man must rise above the Earth...to the top of the atmosphere and beyond...for only thus will he understand the world in which he lives."

And then that quote got me thinking about other quotes, from the astronauts who are among the lucky few that have risen above the Earth and beyond, and how that perspective changed them and the way they understand the world on which they live.

I have created a series of paintings based on some of those quotes, and I'm going to post them here, one-a-day until Earth day. Some are deep and profound, some are not, but they all represent very human responses to (what I can only imagine) is an extraordinary experience.

People often ask me what is the value of space exploration, and there are so many answers to that question, but this is one that I often forget about. It was not a coincidence that the environmental movement started and the first Earth day celebrations happened soon after the Apollo program began returning images of the Earth from a distance, like this gorgeous view from Apollo 8. Seeing even a photograph of our world hanging there alone in the vastness of space made us instantly aware of how fragile it is, but for those that have seen that view in person, nearly all of them describe it as profound and life changing.

So, here is the first one. This is probably my favorite quote among the bunch. It is from Apollo 11 astronaut Neil Armstrong, who I think is the most poetic of the astronauts.

"It suddenly struck me that that tiny pea, pretty and blue, was the Earth. I put up my thumb and shut one eye, and my thumb blotted out the plant Earth. I didn't feel like a giant, I felt very, very small."

New Paintings

This one is called "All Dressed Up"


And this one is "Beckoning"

Fun with Mathmatical Modeling

Have you seen this paper on modeling a zombie infection outbreak? It's awesome.

"In summary, a zombie outbreak is likely to lead to the collapse of civilisation, unless it is dealt with quickly. While aggressive quarantine may contain the epidemic, or a cure may lead to coexistence of humans and zombies, the most effective way to contain the rise of the undead is to hit hard and hit often. As seen in the movies, it is imperative that zombies are dealt with quickly, or else we are all in a great deal of trouble."

Sure, having a published paper on Zombie attacks is like the coolest thing ever when you're a grad student, but I bet it raises a few eyebrows when these guys go up for tenure.

via Freakonomics via The Park Bench

Galileo vs. Newton

File this under "funny because it's true" or maybe "sad because it's true"?

"The point of the comparison is to contrast two competing modes of scientific communication, as embodied by our two heroes."

Why is making science accessible such a crime in academia? Why are those who deign to speak to mere mortals looked down upon by so many of their colleagues?

On a lighter note, my favorite part of this blog post is that the majority of the comments revolve around whether or not Newton died a virgin. Seriously.

Thanks for the link Emily!

What are the aliens watching on TV?

This is pretty cool.


Courtesy of Abstruse Goose